October 17, 2012 12:28am EDTOctober 16, 2012 11:56pm EDTThe Yankees put up a fight in the ninth inning of Game 3, knocking out Justin Verlander and putting the go-ahead run on base before failing to Detroit. Now, CC Sabathia is New York's last hope with their season on the line.

Throw a gem or the New York Yankees’ season is over. And even if Sabathia does deliver a lights-out performance, it is not a safe bet that he will win because his offense is stuck in the Dead Ball Era.

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But that is Sabathia’s task for Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday night. His New York Yankees are down 3-0 in this best-of-7 series, and the Detroit Tigers would like to make quick work of them in order to set up their rotation for the World Series.

Three Strikes from the Tigers’ 2-1 win in Game 3:

1. The lone hope

The Yankees have had no life in this series. They know it. Their fans know it. The Tigers know it. Sabathia knows it.

That is why it likely will take an utterly outstanding performance from Sabathia to extend this series to a fifth game. Considering the circumstances—the lack of offense, the bruised egos and the Tigers’ pitching—anything less than a gem won’t be good enough.

“I always want to go out and try to shut the other team down and give us as many opportunities to score,” Sabathia said before Game 3. “As cold as we are, we can get just as hot, especially with our lineup and the veterans we have.”

2. Stellar from the start

With a guy like Justin Verlander at the top of a rotation, it is easy to overlook the other pitchers who comprise the rest of the starting five.

The Tigers know that because the rest of their starters have pitched in Verlander’s shadow the past three seasons. But those other guys are forcing people to notice them this postseason.

With his eight shutout innings in Game 3 against the Yankees, Verlander nearly pushed the string of consecutive Tiger starts without allowing an earned run to five. Anibal Sanchez, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer and Verlander combined to throw 35 2/3 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run dating back to Game 4 of the AL Division Series against the Oakland A’s. Yankee shortstop Eduardo Nunez ended that streak with a solo homer in the ninth.

The Tigers’ starters were scored on once in that span when the A’s got an unearned run against Scherzer in Game 4 of the ALDS. Other than that, they have been pretty much flawless.

Scherzer will get the ball in what might be the final game of this series Wednesday evening.

3. Yankee killer

No, we aren’t referring to Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher or Curtis Granderson, although they all would fit the description.

Tigers designated hitter Delmon Young has crushed Yankees pitching this season, and his home run in the fourth inning of Game 3 seemingly was all Verlander would need. It was Young’s seventh career postseason homer and his second of this series.

In this ALCS, Young is 4-for-13 with a double and five RBIs to go with that pair of long balls. During the regular season, Young batted .417/.440/.500 with a .940 OPS in 25 plate appearances against the Yankees.